Colin Mayfield from Louisville's WLKY-TV will join WLWT-TV's "News 5 Today" anchor team in January, when morning anchor Mark Hayes moves to evenings.
"We consider this a real win-win for WLWT. We add a new member to our already highly rated morning team featuring the familiar faces of Lisa Cooney and Randi Rico. And we expand our evening anchor team with a face familiar to Cincinnati viewers in Mark Hayes," says Jeff Benscoter, Channel 5 news director.
Adding Mayfield is the second change to the familiar faces on Channel 5's morning news this month. Traffic reporter Kyla Woods left Dec. 1 to do public relations part-time and build her Crowd or Camera Communications Consulting business, which offers public speaking, interviewing and social media training.
Mayfield, a 2011 Marquette University graduate, has worked two years as an anchor-reporter at the sister Hearst station in Louisville. Before that, he worked at WISN-TV in Milwaukee and as weekend anchor-reporter at WSAW-TV in Wausau, WI.
Hayes was hired two years ago, when anchor Todd Dykes was switched to investigative reporter. Hayes has worked for TV stations in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Denver and Detroit.
Woods came here five years ago Indianapolis' WRTV-TV and WXIN-TV with her husband and two daughters.
"I am grateful for my time at Channel 5, and it was a very tough decision to step away from it, but it was time for me to grow and fulfill my purpose in ways that I couldn't do in that capacity," Woods says.
"I have also been extremely blessed to get so much love and support from viewers. Again - it wasn't easy, but it was time," she says.
Channel 5 also hired a new president-general manager this month, Branden Frantz, a Dayton native who has been a general sales manager for WXIX-TV (Channel 19) and Dayton's WKEF-TV and WRGT-TV. He replaces Richard Dyer, who was named general manager of WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C., his hometown.
